What Happens When A Nuclear Weapon Is ‘Retired’ grunge.com

Mushroom cloud from hydrogen bomb. Three Lions/Getty Images Via Grunge.

A nuclear weapon was first deployed in July of 1945, during a U.S. test (via the Arms Control Association). Only a month later, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, killing between 130,000 and 215,000 people total, according to History. Since then, the destructive capabilities of nuclear weapons have only grown, with weapons like hydrogen bombs being added to the atomic arsenal, according to ICAN. Now, the most powerful nuclear weapons in the world have almost 40 times the explosive yield of the first atomic bombs, according to Andolu Agency.

But that doesn’t mean that countries like the United States are holding on to a bunch of outdated atomic weaponry. Nuclear weapons are replaced with newer alternatives over time, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, while older weapons are dismantled and “retired.” The retirement process aims to remove weapons that are unlikely to be needed, according to IPS News. Over time, the process has sometimes led to the reduction, year-on-year, in the total number of nuclear weapons worldwide. But what does the retirement process actually look like?

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